The silver price has gained so far this year, but what are the best silver stocks on the TSX? We've got the answers here.

Which silver stocks came out on top in 2017? While the silver price traded within a fairly tight range throughout the year, some companies saw big share price gains.

The list below was generated on December 5, 2017 using the Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSX-listed silver companies that have experienced the biggest share price gains year-to-date.

Only companies with market caps above $30 million are included. If you think we’ve missed a silver company that should be listed, please let us know in the comments. Our list of the best junior silver stocks of the year on the TSXV can be viewed here.

Sabina Gold & Silver is focused on advancing its Back River gold project in Nunavut, and released a feasibility study for the project in 2015. The company also has a series of claims in the Wishbone greenstone belt, but it has not focused on them in recent years.

In addition to those properties, Sabina has a royalty on Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) Hackett River silver-zinc project. The firm is entitled to receive 22.5 percent of silver production up to the first 190 million ounces produced, and then 12.5 percent of all silver produced afterwards at Hackett River.

Sierra Metals has three underground mines in Latin America: the Yauricocha polymetallic mine in Peru and the Bolivar copper and Cusi silver mines in Mexico.

2017 was an active year for the company. Its more recent news includes the release of a “significantly increased” mineral resource estimate for Yauricocha, its flagship asset, after successful drilling at several sites within the mine. The company hopes the new resource estimate will help it increase production at the site. The firm also recently released its consolidated Q3 results, reporting quarterly output of 3.7 million silver equivalent ounces and revenue from metals payable of $50.9 million.

Americas Silver has silver-mining operations in the US and Mexico. Three of its mines are producing, and the company also has an advanced-stage exploration project.

Like the other companies on this list, Americas Silver was quite active in 2017. Its most recent milestone came in November, when it commenced production at San Rafael, its third mine. A March 2016 prefeasibility study for San Rafael forecasts average annual production of 1 million ounces of silver, 50 million pounds of zinc and 20 million pounds of lead over an initial six-year mine life. Click here to read an interview with Americas Silver President and CEO Darren Blasutti.

Levon Resources is a precious metals exploration company. Its flagship asset is the Cordero project in Mexico, which it bills as one of the largest silver resources in the world. The firm says it is “debt-free and well-funded for future exploration.”

Levon’s latest news came in September, when it announced the results of a core drill program at Cordero; it said results were “conformable with the grid drilling results of the 2014 Cordero resource.”

Last on our list of top-gaining silver stocks is Wheaton Precious Metals, formerly known as Silver Wheaton. It claims to be the world’s largest pure precious metals streaming company, boasting streaming agreements for 20 mines and eight projects.

While the company’s share price has fluctuated between about $17 and $22 this year, the overall average is steady compared with previous years. As per the company’s Q3 release in November, it is on track to meet its 2017 production guidance and is generating strong cashflow. Click here to read an interview with Wheaton Precious Metals President and CEO Randy Smallwood.

Which silver stocks were in your top five this year? Let us know in the comments below.

The data for this article was retrieved on December 5, 2017 using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed silver companies with market capitalizations greater than $30 million are included.

This article is updated each quarter. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information.

Best Silver Stocks of 2017 on the TSX

By Melissa Shaw, October 19, 2017

Silver was over $18 per ounce at the start of 2017, but it hit a 15-month low of $15.19 in July. It rallied back to about $18 in early September, and as of mid-October was at about $17.

But what are the best silver stocks? The list below was generated using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSX-listed silver companies that saw the biggest share price gains from January 1 to October 17, 2017.

Only companies with market caps above $50 million as of October 17 are included. If you think we’ve missed a silver company that should be listed, please let us know in the comments. Our list of the best silver stocks of the year on the TSXV can be viewed here.

Sabina Gold & Silver is focused on advancing its Back River gold project in Nunavut, and released a feasibility study for the project in 2015. The company also has a series of claims in the Wishbone greenstone belt, but it has not focused on them in recent years as it has been advancing Back River.

In addition to those properties, Sabina has a royalty on Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) Hackett River silver-zinc project. The firm is entitled to receive 22.5 percent of silver production up to the first 190 million ounces produced, and then 12.5 percent of all silver produced afterwards at Hackett River.

Americas Silver has silver mining operations in the US and Mexico. Two of its mines are producing, while a third is in construction; the company also has an advanced-stage exploration project.

The firm’s latest news came on October 3, when itannounced that the first processing of ore from its San Rafael project occurred during the last week of September. San Rafael is one of the firm’s projects in Mexico. A March 2016 prefeasibility study for San Rafael forecasts average annual production of 1 million ounces of silver, 50 million pounds of zinc and 20 million pounds of lead over an initial six-year mine life.

Sierra Metals has three underground mines in Latin America: the Yauricocha polymetallic mine in Peru and the Bolivar copper and Cusi silver mines in Mexico. The firm released its Q3 production results on October 16, showing silver equivalent production of 2.7 million ounces.

On September 28, the company “significantly increased” the mineral resource estimate for Yauricocha, its flagship asset, after successful drilling at several sites within the mine. The company hopes the new resource estimate will help it increase production at the site.

Excellon Resources operates the Platosa underground silver-lead-zinc mine in Mexico, which began production in 2005. The company announced its Q3 production results on October 16, recording a silver production increase of 41 percent compared to Q2 2017 and 47 percent compared to Q3 2016.

The firm trucks ore from Platosa to the flotation mill at its Miguel Auza property. Miguel Auza is the site where mining took place historically, but the firm last carried out a modest exploration program there from 2009 to 2010.

Silver Standard changed its name on August 1 to SSR Mining. The firm has gold- and silver-mining operations in Canada, the US and Argentina. The firm also has the Seabee gold operation in Saskatchewan, and produces gold from the Marigold mine in Nevada.

Silver production comes from its Puna operations in Argentina. The firm produced 20.9 percent less silver from Puna in Q3 2017 compared to Q2 2017.

The data for this article was retrieved on October 16, 2017 using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed silver companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million are included.

This article is updated each quarter. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information.

Best Silver Stocks of 2017 on the TSX

By Melissa Shaw, July 4, 2017

The silver price is up 4 percent year-to-date on the back of continuing geopolitical tension. Investors have flocked toward the safe-haven metal, and as of Tuesday (July 4) it was sitting at $16.04 per ounce.

But what are the best silver stocks? The list below was generated using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSX-listed silver companies that saw the biggest share price gains from January 1 to July 4.

Only companies with market caps above $50 million as of July 4 are included. If you think we’ve missed a silver company that should be listed, please let us know in the comments. Our list of the best silver stocks of the year on the TSXV can be viewed here.

Silvercorp Metals tops the list of the best silver stocks. The company has been fairly active so far this year — among other things it began trading on the NYSE MKT on May 15. Most recently, on May 26, Silvercorp announced that it would be paying its semiannual $0.01 dividend in American dollars instead of Canadian dollars in order to increase value for its shareholders.

The firm owns several mines in China’s Ying Mining District, with the largest being its silver-lead–zinc Ying mine, which has been in operation since April 2006. The company acquired its LM silver-lead mine, HPG silver-gold-lead mine and TLP silver-lead mine 2007, and its silver-lead-zinc GC mine began producing in 2014. In 2011, the company acquired the BYP gold-lead-zinc mine, but it suspended production in 2014 and does not consider BYP a core asset.

MAG Silver is focused on two exploration-stage silver projects in Mexico. The company owns 100 percent of the mineral concessions at its Cinco de Mayo property in Chihuahua, and is developing its Juanicipio project in partnership with Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) in Zacatecas.

In March, MAG and Fresnillo said they plan to release an updated resource estimate for Juanicipio later this year, incorporating the latest drill results from the project. The joint venture partners are considering project design enhancements that could increase capital costs and delay the start of mine production from H2 2018 to H1 2019.

Pan American Silver has seven silver mines in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, plus six development projects in the US, Mexico, Peru and Argentina. It bills itself as the second-largest primary silver producer in the world, and was founded in 1994.

In April, Pan American announced a binding agreement to acquire Patagonia Gold’s (LSE:PGD) COSE project in Argentina. Under the same agreement, Patagonia Gold was granted an exclusive option to purchase one of Pan American Silver’s exploration-stage projects in Argentina. The potential sale of the Calcatreu gold-silver exploration project would go through Pan American Silver’s subsidiary, Minera Aquiline Argentina.

In fourth place on this list of the best silver stocks is Americas Silver. In March, Americas Silver entered into an option agreement with a subsidiary of Santacruz Silver Mining (TSXV:SCZ) to acquire an option agreement between the subsidiary and Minera Hochschild Mexico. Under the agreement, Americas Silver will have the right to acquire a 100-percent stake in the Mexico-based San Felipe property.

Americas Silver already has operations in the Cosala mining district in Mexico, including the Nuestra Senora silver-zinc-lead-copper mine. The firm also owns the San Rafael zinc-lead-silver brownfields deposit, and said it expects its El Cajon mine to be back in production this year. The company also has operations in Idaho.

In fifth place on this list of the best silver stocks is Minco Silver. So far this year, the company has released a resource estimate for its Fuwan silver-gold-lead-zinc project in China showing an inferred resource of 63,283 million ounces of silver. The company anticipates that it will have preproduction work at Fuwan completed in two years. In a May investor presentation, Minco Silver explains that Fuwan will have a mine life of about nine years.

Minco is also developing the Changkeng gold property through a joint venture called Mingzhong, which is comprised of Minco China, the Guangdong Geological Bureau, Guangdong Gold and two private Chinese companies.

The data for this article was retrieved on July 4, 2017 using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed silver companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million are included.

This article is updated each quarter. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information.

Best Silver Stocks of 2017 on the TSX

By Charlotte McLeod, April 13, 2017

The silver price was up 17.7 percent year-to-date as of 5:00 p.m. EST on April 13, and many market watchers believe the metal will only continue to rise.

Worldwide uncertainty fueled by US President Donald Trump, upcoming elections in Europe and other factors have sent investors flocking to precious metals, which are viewed as safe-haven assets. And of course, some gold– and silver-focused companies have also been benefiting.

The list below was generated using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSX-listed silver companies that saw the biggest share price gains from January 1 to April 12. Only companies with market caps above $50 million are included. You can click here to view our list of the TSXV-listed best silver stocks in Q1.

Silvercorp Metals is a silver producer with multiple mines in China, among other properties. So far this year it has released a slew of news, including results from 2016 exploration at its SGX and LMW mines, both located in China. After those results came out, the company published an updated NI 43-101 technical report for its SGX, HZG, HPG, TLP, LME and LMW mines.

Most recently, a subsidiary of Silvercorp entered into a royalty purchase and sale agreement with Maverix Metals (TSXV:MMX). Under the agreement, Maverix will acquire a 2.5-percent net smelter return royalty on Silvercorp’s BC-based Silvertip mine for up to 6,600,000 common shares.

Silver Bear Resources is focused on the development of its Mangazeisky silver project, located in Russia. Mangazeisky holds the Vertikalny deposit, which the company says is one of the highest-grade silver deposits in the world.

In February, Silver Bear released an update on Mangazeisky and announced certain agreements in principle with two of its major shareholders. Among other things, the two shareholders agreed to a revised funding package and development schedule for the project. Commissioning is now expected to begin in mid-2017; construction activities are currently taking place.

Levon Resources is advancing the Mexico-based Cordero silver-gold-zinc–lead porphyry project. The company says the project holds one of the largest silver resources in the world; it has an indicated resource of 488.6 million ounces of silver and an inferred resource of 44.4 million ounces of silver. Cordero’s indicated resource also includes 1.37 million ounces of gold, 9 billion pounds of zinc and 4.7 billion pounds of lead.

So far this year Levon has released just one piece of news. On April 4, it announced plans to complete 5,000 meters of close-spaced infill drilling within the Cordero Felsic Dome portion of the 2014 resource for Cordero. It will be testing for near-surface, high-grade mineralization within the modeled open pit containing the 2014 resource.

MAG Silver is focused on moving forward at high-grade silver projects located within Mexico’s Fresnillo Silver Trend. The company’s Juanicipio project is a joint venture with Fresnillo (LSE:FRES), while it wholly owns its Cinco de Mayo and Guigui projects. All are situated in Mexico.

2017 news from MAG has centered on Juanicipio. In February, it released results from 13 exploration and infill drill holes completed at the project, and in March it provided an update on the project. Notably, it said that a new resource estimate for the project is underway; a revised mine plan for the project will also be completed, and startup is now slated for the first half of 2019.

Silver Standard Resources operates three mines: the Nevada-based Marigold gold mine, the Seabee gold operation in Canada and the Pirquitas silver mine in Argentina. Pirquitas achieved commercial production in 2009, and in 2016 produced a record 10.4 million ounces of silver.

The company has released a fair amount of news this year, but one of its most notable announcements was the news that it has decided to exercise its option to form a joint venture with Golden Arrow Resources (TSXV:GRG). The two companies will work together to develop the Argentina-based Chinchillas silver project, with Silver Standard being the operator and taking a 75-percent stake in the project.